


From a Certain Point of View

by veleda_k



Category: White Collar
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, POV Multiple, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 07:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2101434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veleda_k/pseuds/veleda_k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place during "Forging Bonds." Alone together in the warehouse, Kate and Peter take stock of each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Peter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).



This was the part of the job Peter lived for. The part when the hard work and late nights paid off and he got to slap cuffs on the perp. Granted, arrests didn't usually go like this. Not that Caffrey was the first crook to play it cool. He wasn't even the first to thank Peter for arresting him, though that usually involved suspects running to Peter saying things like, “He's going to kill me! You've got to get me out of here!”

Still, there was something different about Caffrey. He was, if not quite happy, then at peace. And as he was led away, he turned back to look at Kate Moreau as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered. Hell, maybe to him she was.

Peter popped the sucker in his mouth. It was the sweetest damn thing he could remember tasting. The only thing better than chasing the smart ones was catching them, and Caffrey had been one of the smartest. 

It wasn't until he turned to go that he noticed Moreau. He'd almost forgotten about her, despite the whole sting depending on her. The sucker tasted slightly less sweet. Peter wasn't above celebrating a victory, but he didn't think of himself as the type to gloat while the perp's loved ones were still there. But it had been easy to forget about her. She had been silent the whole takedown, not moving, just watching. 

It struck Peter as pretty cold. Caffrey was supposed to be her boyfriend, right? Then again, she had been avoiding him. Maybe the relationship was more one sided than they'd previously thought. 

It was unnerving, how still Moreau was. Her eyes were blank, and Peter thought he might have been more comfortable with hatred. He was used to hatred. He was used to spouses, lovers, and parents cursing him out or threatening to get him fired. Moreau's preternatural calm was something else.

 _Are you even feeling anything?_ he wanted to ask, though he didn't. Caffrey just got arrested for her sake, surely that deserved some sort of reaction. 

It was then that Peter really noticed the open door. In the chaos of the takedown, he hadn't been paying attention to it. Moreau caught him looking, and a flash of worry appeared on her face before vanishing in an instant. It was the first time Peter saw her show any emotion, and was concern for herself. 

There had to be something in that room. Peter could even see a glimpse of canvas and easel. All he'd have to do was check it out, and he might be able to make two arrests today. A double collar would look damn good for him.

It would be rough for Caffrey, having to see the women he loved taken in on top of being arrested himself, but those were the breaks. Not all criminals came with “bad guy” stamped on their forehead. Some were friendly. Some were even sympathetic. It didn't matter; you took them in like all the rest. Anything else wasn't justice, it was playing favorites, gaming the system.

_Thank you. I never would have found her without you._

Still, they'd never had enough arrest Moreau before now, and they'd been watching. She was the cautious type. What were the chances this would be their big break? Most likely if Peter went in there, he'd find a bunch of paint that looked suspicious as hell, but couldn't be used to prove anything. It'd be a lot of useless effort on the part of his team. He had one impressive arrest today. He didn't need to get greedy and risk wasting everyone's time. He shifted his vision away from the door.

 _Thank you._

Moreau's eyes had never left his face. Peter opened his mouth to say something. He wasn't even sure what. Commiseration she wouldn't accept? Life advice she'd only ignore? Definitely not an apology.

There really wasn't anything to say, was there? And Peter had lingered here too long already. He went outside to catch up with the rest of his team.

By the end of the day, Peter wasn't thinking about Kate Moreau at all.


	2. Kate

“It all happened so fast.” That was the cliché, wasn't it? Except this time it really had. Neal had been there, and Kate had been kissing him while a maelstrom of emotion whirled inside her. _How dare you show up here. I love you. I hate you. Get out. Never leave me._ And then the FBI had burst in and Neal had slowly pushed her away from the chaos. 

It had been a trap. The FBI had used her as bait. And Neal had known it and gone in anyway. Damn him. Damn them all.

It was easy to melt into the background. It was easy to be quiet and unobtrusive. (That Kate Moreau had been such a good, quiet girl, they would say if they saw her now. Wherever did she go so wrong?) There was nothing she could do for Neal now.

She silently took in the interplay between Neal and Burke. When Neal actually thanked Burke for helping him find her, Kate thought she might be sick. _Was it really worth_ this _, you idiot?_ she wanted to shout. _Was it worth helping him destroy you?_ Kate suspected Neal's answer would only exasperate her.

Neal's eyes met hers as he was led away. Kate wanted to cry out. She didn't. She felt the urge to run to him, and she didn't do that either. She stayed still.

Agent Burke lingered. At first, Kate assumed he was going to question her, but he acted as if she wasn't even there. He smiled the kind of smug smile Kate had come to associate with law enforcement, and popped a sucker in his mouth. Kate could only assume it was the sucker from his first meeting with Neal, the story Neal had been so found of telling. Nice to see Burke was so eager to gloat. 

Burke turned, and it was like had had only just noticed she was there. He had the decency to look slightly sheepish for a moment. But then his eyes held hers. It was as if he was looking for something in her face. Kate kept her expression blank. Burke had set her up and used her like a game piece. Whatever he wanted from her, she wasn't going to give it to him. He'd taken enough from her today.

Then Burke's eyes went towards the door to Kate's makeshift studio. Kate felt a burst of fear. Nothing she had in there was technically illegal-- not even the Raphael, which was only a forgery if they could prove she intended to pass it off as the original-- but it didn't look good either. 

Running wouldn't do her any good; there was an entire FBI team outside. If Burke decided to drag her in, there wouldn't be anything she could do about it. She'd have no choice but to hope that they didn't have enough to charge her, and that wasn't a comfortable bet. 

Burke's eyes remained on the door for what seemed like an eternity before he turned away. There was nothing in his expression to tell Kate what had made him change his mind.

Burke opened his mouth, then paused before closing it again. Kate had no idea what he had intended to say. Nothing she would have been interested in hearing, certainly. 

Burke turned and left without saying anything at all, and Kate was alone. The whole thing had taken less than five minutes. Five minutes, and everything had gone so wrong.

She should call Mozzie, let him know what happened. She should clear out of there as fast as she could. She should find out where they'd be taking Neal. Instead, she stood there.

In a few minutes, she'd clear out like she'd never been in the warehouse in the first place. In a few minutes, she'd alert Mozzie, and Alex, and whoever needed to be told. In a few minutes, she'd figure out what Neal needed. She just needed those few minutes to catch her breath.

The rest of the day was a flurry of action and movement, and barely contained panic, and by the end of it Kate wasn't thinking of Peter Burke at all.


End file.
